Do you fold the laundry and wonder how you end up with so many socks without partners?
Was it the underpants gnomes?
I have found the answer in our house and it is gross.
Four and a half years after getting a new washing machine (and dryer) when we moved into the house, I found an area in the washing machine (perhaps a necessary overflow area?) where our socks have been hiding. It has existed and I did not know it was there for 4 and 1/2 YEARS...of wet laundry getting stuck in this "overflow" area...and sitting there wet between loads...I wondered why the washing machine kind of smelled musty...
It was a hair clip that tipped me off this time - the shine caught my eye...and I put my finger in to get it out and here is what I found (that I can identify) inside the treasure chest:
33 socks (baby and toddler sizes)
3 rags
1 newborn mitten
1 hair clip
3 rags
1 newborn mitten
1 hair clip
Did I mention that most of the socks used to be white socks?
Part of me feels vindicated that maybe I wasn't just imaging it, the socks really where going somewhere. The other part of me feels dumb. Maybe I should have read the manual for the washing machine? Check out your washing machine, maybe you'll find some long lost socks too. However, I must warn you, the ones I found are not salvageable.
Excerpts from a conversation between Andy and me regarding the socks:
Alison: "You have to come see something."
Andy: "Am I in trouble?"
Alison: "I don't think so."
[time elapses when I show him the treasure chest]
Alison: "What am I going to do with them? I could try to bleach them?"
Andy: "You are going to throw them away. You are going to throw them away in the garbage can in the garage. That is what you are going to do with them."
4.5 YEARS (or at least two and three quarters for the items belonging to Madeline). Ew. Maybe I should call HAZMAT. At least the washing machine probably won't have a musty odor anymore...
21 comments:
GASP! I thought you meant 1 got stuck in the washer or a few fell behind! That treasure is CRAZY! If I weren't feeding my baby I'd run down and check right now!!
Wow, disgusting. I'm totally going to check into this too. (And P.S. the hippie in me would have tried to salvage the socks too, and luckily I have a level-headed husband also who would insist otherwise.)
That's a newborn mitten, not kitten, right? Do newborn mittens eventually grow into gloves?
I was laughing out loud as I read this! I love Andy's response!!! :o)
My fiance used to work on washers and dryers before he went back to school, and he told me about this overflow area. I thought he was full of shit.
Dammit.
I hate eating crow.
http://glamkittenslitterbox.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @GlamKitten88
I came over here from Jennsylvania but had to comment because I, too, recently discovered by washing machine's "treasure chest" only mine only contained about three socks, so I still have NO IDEA where the others are going.
The others are most likely getting stuck between the basket your clothes go in and the outer shell.
If you have a front-loading machine, it's been eating your socks. I now check with every load of hot-whites and hot-darks. :)
This is fascinating- I literally cannot wait to get home and check our washer!
My husband wanted to know why I was ripping the washing machine apart. Apparently we don't have an overflow area and now he has to fix the rubber I tore off. Whoops!
Oh my god. I bet EVERYONE who reads this and owns a front-loading washer JUMPED UP THE MINUTE THEY FINISHED TO CHECK THEIR OWN WASHER. I did.
Yep, i find socks in there sometimes too. Firs time I found some it was a shocker and they were nasty and mildewed too. The air quality in your house just improved - ha!
OMG my machine smells musty too. I will have to check as soon as I return home!!!
We had the same issue and I thought I was going crazy! I found 5 socks and 1 baby tshirt! They all had to be thrown out because they were so gross.
I haven’t found any victims trapped in my overflow area of the washer – I wish I had. I’d feel better just finding them and knowing where they’d been. My problem, is not being able to release their abandoned partners for fear that someday, just maybe someday, they could be reunited. Occasionally, a missing partner does appear again from obscure places like long ago folded sheet sets or that nasty cavern under the couch cushions. Thanks for the heads up on a new place to look!
OMG. And I thought the used car we just bought had secrets! I can hear my washer shaking from here. I'm about to go crash its party.
I also used to worry about the abundance of single socks coming out of my laundry until I realized that my daughters had decided to only wear mismatched socks. However, I do wash my hub's "SmartWool" socks in a lingerie bag so as to make sure none ever go missing (do you know how much those suckers cost?!). And you know what? I'm still going to check my machine when I get home!
Thanks for your fun comments everyone!
I read that can thought " OMG she found a KITTEN in there ?! "... wait, go back and read it again. Phew... glad it was a mitten. I was gonna call the SPCA on you. Just keep the babies outta the washer and you'll avoid jail-time.
I am going to check right now! (time elapses) crudder butters, no socks, but plenty of weird smell and yellow color...i must say im rather dissapointed, finding lost things gives me a little thrill.
Holy crap!!! I HAVE to check this when I get home! My fiance gives me shit ALL THE TIME about "loosing" his socks in the dryer....God, I wonder how many I have stuff in this overload area.
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